Chances Are
by megaphone
Summary: Why Marley doesn't realize that she's perfect exactly the way she is, is something Ryder will never understand. And why Ryder even bothers with trying to help her, is something Marley will never understand. Mainly Ryley, with some Jarley & Kyder, and Jitty. Set from 4x06.
1. Kitty Says

_Chapter 1: Kitty Says_

Glass lay shattered all over her bathroom floor, and in the bath tub, as if trying to protect herself from the sea of sharp pieces, sat Marley with her cheap and out-dated - but functional - cell phone. She hastily dialed the number she'd called so many times, she knew it by heart. Hearing the signals go by, she hoped to God he wasn't busy.

"Hello?" she eventually heard his calm, soft voice speak, and it made her eyes tear up for whatever reason.

"It's me," she whispered. "I didn't know who else to call."

As per usual.

"What's wrong?" his voice sounded filled with worry, and made the corners of her lips point a bit upwards. "Where are you?"

She let out a sarcastic, embarrassed chuckle. "At home. Sitting in my bath tub, to be specific."

"What?" she could picture him frowning. "Are you alright? Did you call me only to tell me you're having a bath? I thought you'd done something stupid again. You really scared me there for a second."

Marley shook her head, although she was aware he couldn't see it. "I _did_ do something stupid."

"What'd you do?"

"The thing you keep telling me I shouldn't."

She heard a deep sigh on the other line, and closed her eyes, feeling like she had disappointed him. Which she had. Him, and herself.

"I don't know what to tell you, Mar," he spoke. "I don't understand. You're beautiful. How come you can't realize that? How many times do I have to remind you? Maybe I should stop, seeing it doesn't seem to have any effect anyway."

The tears that had formed previously were now slowly making their way down her rosy cheeks, and she wondered why he ever even bothered with her to begin with.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not me you should apologize to. It's yourself," he said. "Can I just ask - what even made you start doing this to yourself?"

"Well, Kitty said that-"

"Oh, so what Kitty says, Marley does?" he asked, irritation in his voice this time.

Marley ran her fingers through her thick, brown hair and sighed. "No. I don't know. All I know is that I'm in my bath tub because the floor is covered in a million little pieces of glass. I guess I got so sick of my own reflection, I threw a shampoo bottle at it."

"Okay, I'm coming over," he immediately responded. "Are you home alone?"

"Yeah."

_Click. _

Always the hero. Marley honestly didn't know what she would do if she didn't have Ryder. He was the only one besides her mom that truly cared about her. Sure, her other friends in Glee club were nice and made her laugh - but they didn't look out for her like Ryder did. Ryder wanted her to take care of herself, and realize that she was good enough the way she was. The only problem was that she found it hard to believe him when he said those things. She didn't deserve him at all.

* * *

"Marley?"

Marley woke up from daydreaming when she heard her name being called, and footsteps outside the door. She was still in her bath tub, and now Ryder was here. He knocked, and she felt her heart raising.

"Come in," she called.

The door opened and Ryder peaked his head inside, looking around. He frowned when he noticed all the shattered glass, and titled his head sadly when he saw Marley. He opened the door wider, and stepped inside, holding a broom and a dustpan.

"I found these in the kitchen," he said, as he started sweeping the glass onto the dustpan and the floor slowly cleared out.

Marley watched him in awe, utterly amazed at how great he was. Well, of course she knew so already, but he continued to impress her all the time. Ryder put the broom and the pan aside and walked over to the tub, climbing in. He was now sitting across from her.

"Can't say this is all that comfy," he told, as he let his right arm hang over the edge. "I certainly hope you'll find a new hangout spot."

Marley laughed. "I can't believe you're here. I am such an idiot, haven't you had enough of me already?"

"I'll never have enough of you," Ryder replied with a smile on his face. "One simply can't have enough of Marley Rose."

"Not true," Marley shook her head. "Marley Rose has had enough of Marley Rose."

"Stop."

Ryder placed his hand on top of hers where it rested on the edge of the tub. She looked at him, wanting to apologize but knowing that's not what he wanted. God, what was wrong with her? If someone like Ryder wanted her to realize she was worth-while, why couldn't she just realize it?

"Hey, let's get out of here," he spoke, standing up. "Let's get something to eat. Something you'll actually keep down."

He reached her a hand, which she hesitantly grabbed and pulled herself up. Still holding hands, they stepped out of the tub. Ryder pulled her along, out of the bathroom and down the stairs.

"Breadstix?" he asked.

"Sure," Marley nodded as they both put on jackets and left the house.

Why he was doing this she'd never understand, but she did know she was very thankful to him.


	2. Sugar Glazed Donuts

**A/N: **First of all; I want to give a big thanks to the people who reviewed the first chapter. You made my day, and had me inspired to write the next chapter already. I hope you enjoy this one!

* * *

_Chapter 2: Sugar Glazed Donuts_

"Hey, Hobo Barbie!"

The voice that had spoken those three words was one that never failed to make her stomach cringe, and as Marley turned around to look at blonde she passionately detested, she swore Kitty had never looked so malicious.

"Have you put any of those sausages for fingers to any good use lately?" the cheerleader asked. "Because I certainly can't tell. Move, you're blocking the entire hallway."

Every time Kitty threw comments like that at her, Marley always thought of responding. But then she got afraid of sounding like a complete moron, and trigger her enemy to make fun of her even more. So she just tried to ignore it, and let rolling her eyes be the furthest she ever came to a reply.

As she watched Kitty stroll down the hall like she didn't have a care in the world, and people parting like the red sea in front of her, she couldn't help but envy the girl. Sure, she was mean, manipulative and scary; but she always got what she wanted, and people respected her in some kind of twisted way.

"Hey lady," she heard a voice she actually liked speak. "What's wrong with you? You look all pale, like you just saw a ghost."

Marley shook her head from her previous thoughts about Kitty, and focused on Unique. "Yeah... Uhm. So, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing," Unique sighed, and leaned against the lockers. "Except I still haven't come up with a performance for this week's Glee assignment and tomorrow is show day."

Marley smacked her forehead. "I completely forgot about that. We're supposed to sing a possible solo for Sectionals, right? I can't believe I forgot. Do you wanna come over tonight and look through songs and rehearse?"

"Absolutely," Unique nodded. "Oh, and you were also allowed to suggest possible duets."

"I doubt anyone would want to duet with me anyway," Marley shrugged and closed her locker, which had been opened for much longer than it had took her to grab her books.

Unique rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding? Jake is totally into you - but having a hard time letting go of his pride, or something - and Ryder adores you. Just ask one of them."

"Hmm, maybe," Marley replied, uncertain of who she should ask.

Sure, Ryder would probably say was instantly, seeing as they'd gotten really close lately, but she _really _liked Jake, no matter how hard she tried not to. But with him, there was also a chance of a pretty hurtful rejection which would make her want to sink through the ground and disappear from the earth all together. Ryder was clearly the better option.

"Okay, well I'll see you later girly," Unique smiled and patted her on the shoulder before disappearing down the hall.

"Uhu," Marley replied when Unique was already gone.

She pressed her books to her chest as she walked in the opposite direction, towards her History classroom. How great would it be if it were her and Jake, though? The thought didn't seem to wanna leave her mind. But no, there was no way she was brave enough to ask. Maybe she would be so lucky that _he_ would ask _her_? _Riiiiiiight, _maybe in an alternate universe.

* * *

Sat in the cafeteria, Marley was deep into her book when the slam of a tray against the table interrupted her. She looked up and saw Ryder flashing her smile, as he ripped the plastic concealer off his tiny cup of chocolate pudding.

"What's that book you're reading?" he asked, pointing at the paperback in her hands.

Marley held it up, so he could read the front, which read _The Great Gatsby_. "It's for English class."

"Oh, shit!" Ryder's eyes opened wide. "I think we were supposed to read that, too, but I totally forgot about it, so now it's laying somewhere around my room collecting dust."

Laughing, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at his clumsiness. "Better start catching up. Oh, and speaking of forgetting things; Unique reminded me earlier that we have to-"

"Hey guys!" Brittany thumped down next to Ryder, and on each side of Marley sat Sugar and Sam.

Artie rolled up to the edge of the table, and Brittany placed a brown bag in the centre of the table. Marley furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"We got donuts!" Brittany excitedly explained. "We're doing that game where you have to eat an entire donut without licking your lips. Are you guys in?"

"Yeah!" Ryder immediately exclaimed, and grabbed the bag, pulling out a donut overly glazed with sugar.

The group turned to look at Marley, whom's eyes were focused entirely on the donut in Ryder's hand. How many carbs could that thing contain? A million? She quickly shook her head.

"No thanks," she said. "I'm full. And I would find it absolutely impossible not to lick my lips, so if I got in, I would only lose right away, anyway."

While the others nodded understandingly, she received a sad look from Ryder. She shrugged her shoulders, mouthed _it's okay_ and watched the group dig in on their sweets. After 2 long minutes, Artie was declared the winner and said his prize was for the loser to buy him a Slushie. Brittany hung her head disappointed, as everyone but Ryder and Marley made their way out of the cafeteria.

"I almost had that in the bag, you know," Ryder told Marley, who chuckled.

"Sure you did," she nodded.

"So what were you trying to tell me before we got interrupted?" he asked, taking a bite of the apple from his tray.

Marley opened her mouth to speak, when yet another person thumped down at their table and interrupted. But this time she felt like her heart was going to jump out of her throat - it was Jake.

"Hey," he spoke. "So glad I caught you guys. So I totally forgot about this week's Glee assignment, and just remembered like fifteen minutes ago. Since there's no way I'll be able to come up with a solo performance by tomorrow all on my own, I was thinking I should go with the duet performance instead."

While Ryder had an _'and?' _look on his face, but not seeming all that interested, Marley looked directly at Jake. Where was he going with this? He couldn't possibly be asking... _No. _No way.

"So, Marley," he said and looked at her. "Would you help me? I really could use it. And you'll probably find an awesome song in like, a second. What do you say?"

"Yes! I mean, yeah, of course I'll help you," Marley nodded. "Yeah. Definitely. Wanna meet in the auditorium after school? I'll have some sheet music by then."

"Yeah, sure. Awesome, thanks!" Jake smiled, and stood up. "See you later, then."

With that, he left, and a huge grin formed on Marley's lips. She looked over at Ryder, who chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"That guy is just-"

"I think I'm gonna go look for a song and sheet music right now in the library. I'll see you later, okay?" Marley smiled at him, putting her book into her backpack and standing up. "Bye!"

"Bye..." Ryder replied, waiting until she was gone to sigh.


	3. Twisted Duets

**A/N:** Thank you once again for the reviews! They make me a happy camper. Here's chapter 3!

* * *

_Chapter 3: Twisted Duets_

It was 3:09 PM when Marley entered the auditorium. Her last class of the day had ended, and she had headed straight towards the spot where she'd made plans to meet Jake. She noticed he hadn't arrived yet, and walked up to the stage, pulling out the sheet music she'd printed out in the library from her bag and placing it at the piano. She sat down and let her fingers slide along the black and white keys, as she started playing the song she'd picked out for the duet.

_It's not a silly little moment,_  
_It's not the storm before the calm_  
_This is the deep and dying breath of_  
_This love that we've been working on_

She loved this song. John Mayer was once of her favorite artists, and she'd always imagined what it'd be like to sing this song as a duet. She was sure Jake's voice would fit the song very well. He had an amazing voice after all.

_Can't seem to hold you like I want to_  
_So I can feel you in my arms_  
_Nobody's gonna come and save you,_  
_We pulled too many false alarms_

She opened her previously closed eyes and looked around to see if he'd arrived yet. He was nowhere to be seen. She kept singing.

_We're going down,_  
_And you can see it too_  
_We're going down,_  
_And you know that we're doomed_  
_My dear,_  
_We're slow dancing in a burning room_

Suddenly she could hear the auditorium door burst open, and she immediately removed her hands from the keys. A smile formed on her lips as she spotted Jake coming down the aisle. He walked up on stage, and leaned against the piano, where she sat.

"Alright, where's the sheet music?" he smirked. "What song did you pick?"

Marley collected the papers and handed them to him. "It's a John Mayer song, called Slow dancing In A Burning Room. One of my favorites."

"Oh, yeah, I think I've heard it once or twice," Jake said and looked at the sheets.

"So, do you wanna start right away, or?" Marley looked at him with her eyebrows raised.

The girl had no idea how to keep her hands from trembling so much. His presences made her extremely nervous, and she was worried she wouldn't be able to play the song right. She was starting to think that doing this duet with Ryder would've been a much better idea - at least she was totally comfortable and relaxed around him.

"Yeah, let's do it!" Jake replied and sat down next to her at the large, black instrument.

Marley nodded, and once again pressed the keys, starting from the beginning.

* * *

_Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?_  
_Don't you think we oughta know by now?_  
_Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?_

Marley smiled at Jake, as they finished the song. It was the very next day, and they were standing in front of the Glee club, in the choir room. Their friends applauded, and they bowed, before sitting back down in their chairs.

"That was fantastic!" Finn said, standing up before the club. "Awesome contribution, guys. So, is there anyone else who's got a duet suggestion for Sectionals?"

Marley looked behind her, to see if anyone was raising their hand. To her dismay, a certain cheerleader was doing exactly so.

"We've got something," Kitty said, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Great! We being?" Finn asked.

"Me," Kitty looked to her left. "And Ryder."

Ryder smiled, a bit uncomfortably, and nodded. Marley frowned. Ryder was doing a duet with Kitty? Why would he do that? He knew how mean she was to Marley, and he always went on about how big of a bitch she was.

"Awesome, let us see what you got!" Finn smiled and sat down, as Kitty and Ryder made their way down to the floor.

Kitty raised her hand in the air and snapped her fingers. "Hit it!"

The band started playing, and Kitty and Ryder started singing, while dancing a pretty intense routine.

_You and I go hard, at each other like we going to war_  
_You and I go rough, we keep throwing things and slammin' the door_  
_You and I get so, damn dysfunctional we stopped keeping score_  
_You and I get sick, yah I know that we can't do this no more _

Ryder slid to the right, and pointed towards Kitty.

_But baby there you again, there you again making me love you_  
_Yeah I stopped using my head, using my head let it all go_  
_Got you stuck on my body, on my body like a tattoo_  
_And now i'm feeling stupid, feeling stupid crawling back to you_

Kitty draw a cross on her chest with her fingers.

_So I cross my heart, and I hope to die, that I'll only stay with you one more night  
__And I know I said it a million times  
__But I'll only stay with you one more night_

The two intertwined, and Ryder spun Kitty around, making her twirl what seemed like a million laps.

_Trying to tell you no, but my body keeps on telling you yes_  
_Trying to tell you stop, but your lipstick got me so out of breath_  
_I'd be waking up, in the morning probably hating myself_  
_And I'd be waking up, feeling satisfied but guilty as hell_

Marley watched the entire number in both dispute, and amazement. It was a really great number - she just couldn't believe it was _Kitty and Ryder_'s number. The song ended, and the members all stood up, clapping their hands together. A standing ovation? Marley felt herself becoming red with fury.

"Thank you, thank you, I know!" Kitty grinned, grabbed Ryder's hand and took a bow.

The only one who wasn't applauding was Marley. She had her eyes focused on Ryder. She was so irritated with him at the moment. He looked her way, and she swore he looked frightened. Probably because she looked pretty furious.

"Wow, that was amazing!" Finn said. "Okay, how about we take a vote? Which duet do we want at Sectionals? Jake and Marley's, or Ryder and Kitty's?"

* * *

This day was not at all to Marley's favor. Glee Club had voted for Ryder and Kitty to be the duet at Sectionals, and she'd just arrived from the girl's bathroom, after emptying her stomach from everything she'd eaten today - through her throat. She really only felt like going home and crawling into her bed and sleep forever, right now. But no, she had two more classes today that she had to suffer through.

"Marley?" she looked up to see Ryder walking towards her, and rolled her eyes. "Can we talk?"

"I don't know, can we? Or are you supposed to be off rehearsing for Sectionals with Kitty right now?" she replied, flashing an obviously fake grin.

"I'm sorry," Ryder said. "But she kind of threatened me. And I mean, you were doing your duet with Jake, so I thought - why shouldn't I get a shot at this, too?"

Marley furrowed her eyebrows together. "Sure, but with Kitty? You know how she is towards me."

"Yes, I know. But like I said - she threatened me," Ryder tried. "She said she'd expose something she knew about me if I didn't do it."

"What was it?"

"Huh?"

"The secret about you?"

"Oh... Uh..." Ryder shrugged his shoulders. "Just... You know... I'd rather not tell."

"What, you're not even going to tell me?" Marley asked. "Is that how sorry you are? Wow, I _have_ to forgive you now."

"I-I can't," Ryder took a deep breath. "But I _am _sorry. I didn't want this to affect you in any way. I mean you were so happy cause you got to sing with Jake, and - and I know we kind of stole the prize from you - but it shouldn't matter that much, right? I mean there's Regionals, and Nationals, and if we don't make it to those, there's Sectionals next year-"

"You're an idiot," Marley rolled her eyes, and pushed past him, ignoring him calling her name.

It wasn't even the fact that they stole the duet from her and Jake, or that he knew how much she hated Kitty - it was the fact that this whole situation made her irritated with not having chose him to duet with like she originally planned. That could be her and Ryder at Sectionals. Or maybe he and Kitty won because Kitty's absolutely flawless and perfect and has everything Marley doesn't and it won't matter how many times Marley pukes up her lunch because she'll never be as great as Kitty.

_Or maybe_ - she was upset about something else entirely.

* * *

**Songs:**

John Mayer - Slowdancing In A Burning Room

Maroon 5 - One More Night


	4. Best Buddy

_Chapter 4: Best Buddy_

Saturday, and Marley had absolutely no plans what so ever. Like usual. She was still angry with Ryder, and her other friends were busy. She walked downstairs, entering the kitchen, where her mom had placed a plate full of pancakes, covered in maple syrup, on the kitchen table. A huge smile formed on Marley's face, as she sat down and dug into the pancakes immediately. Shortly after, her mom entered.

"Wow, someone's happy I made pancakes!" she exclaimed when she saw Marley.

Marley laughed in between chewing, and nodded. "Best mom ever."

"I try," her mom smiled. "I'm going out to run a couple of errands, I'll be home around 2. See you then, alright?"

"Yeah, bye bye!" Marley replied, still going at it with the pancakes.

Her mom laughed as she left the kitchen, and Marley heard the front door open and shut a few seconds later. She finished the rest of the pancakes in less than 3 minutes, before she dropped the knife onto the plate and leaned back in her chair. She really loved her mom's pancakes. So much, she almost hesitated to what she did next - which was run towards the bathroom.

Two fingers pressed down her throat was all it took - and all the pancakes were out of her body again. She leaned against the bathroom wall, still sat on the floor, as she pulled the flush on the toilet. She wiped her mouth with toilet paper, and sighed heavily. It was like what she was doing wasn't even an option anymore. It was something she _had _to do. Throwing up her food was just as much of a routine as eating it.

She really wished she could call Ryder right now. Oh heck, what was stopping her? So he sang a song with Kitty? It was Ryder. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't survive without the guy. Pulling herself off the floor, she made her way into the living room and grabbed the telephone. She dialed his number.

"What's up, Ryder here."

Just his voice made her instantly feel better.

"Hi," she spoke. "It's me - Marley. Can we meet up and like, talk, or whatever? I don't want to be mad at you."

"Thank god," he chuckled. "Sure, where do you wanna meet? The Lima Bean?"

"Perfect. See you there in 10 minutes?" she asked, overjoyed he hadn't finally chosen to give up on her.

"10 minutes. See you soon," he said, followed by a click.

She immediately walked out into the hallway to grab her jacket, when she remembered something. Running into the kitchen, she opened the medicine cabinet and found breath mints. She popped one, and reentered the hallway. After all, she didn't want to have puke on her breath when she saw him. She grabbed her jacket and her keys, walked outside and locked the door, before she got on her bike and headed towards The Lima Bean.

* * *

20 minutes later both of them were sat at a table at The Lima Bean with a coffee each.

"I'm sorry," was the first thing they both blurted out, and at the same time.

They laughed.

"No, I'm sorry," Marley said. "I shouldn't have become so mad. I mean, if you say Kitty 'threatened' you, then I believe you. And it's none of my business what it is she has on you if you don't want to tell me."

"When the time is right, maybe I'll tell you," Ryder smiled lightly. "But I'm still sorry for doing a duet with her. She's not the most pleasant person around - especially not to you - and you have to know: I'm not enjoying any of it."

"C'mon, not even the part where you get to dance and sing with a _really pretty girl_?" Marley raised her eyebrows in disbelief, as she took a sip from her coffee.

Ryder shook his head. "She's not even half as pretty as you are, anyway."

A blush crept onto Marley's cheeks. "Uhm... Thanks. Not true, though."

"Then I must get an appointment with an eye doctor, 'cause it's about the most true thing I know," Ryder insisted, drinking from his paper mug.

Marley laughed and shook her head at his silliness, as the two went on to talk about nothing and everything for the next two hours. It was always like that with Ryder. Time just vanished, and there was no such thing as an awkward silence where neither of them knew what to say. She was just so comfortable around her - she could really be herself, cause she knew he didn't judge. He was her hero, after all.

"You know," Marley spoke, right after Ryder had finished telling a story of how he was convinced robots would take over the world someday. "You're like... one of the greatest people I know."

"I don't know if-"

"No, you are," Marley nodded. "It's crazy how comfortable I feel around you. Like I can do or say anything, and I know you'll stick by me. We're great together. You're... you're like... my _best buddy_."

"Best buddy!" he exclaimed. "Right, yeah. We're... _best buddies_, you and I."

"Yeah! It's so great to have a best friend. I don't think I've had one since, like, preschool," Marley said.

"Well don't get upset if I steal your crayons. Sharing is caring," Ryder joked, and Marley chuckled, as he looked at his watch. "Wow, we've been here for two hours? I best be going. It was great meeting you, though. Glad we're friends. No! Best buddies! Yeah, okay. Bye Marley. See you at school?"

He was now standing up, his jacket on, fully ready to leave. Marley was a bit caught off guard.

"Uh, I guess?" she responded, as he nodded hastily and quickly disappeared, out of the coffee shop.

Why the sudden hurry? She rolled her eyes and stood up, thinking there was no reason to stick around if Ryder wasn't here. She put her jacket on, and was ready to leave when a familiar voice called her name.

She turned around. "Jake?"

"Hey," he smiled. "Oh, were you just leaving? I just got here."

"Uh, no..." Marley shook her head quickly. "I was just... changing tables. 'Cause, you know, this one... still hasn't been cleared out - look at those mugs. Yeah. Do you wanna sit together?"

"Sure, let me just order," Jake replied.

"Oh, yeah - uhm, me too," Marley said, as they both got in line.

She didn't even like coffee all that much, but if hanging out with Jake meant getting another cup, then she definitely didn't mind. She wasn't sure what she'd been thinking the other day when she'd suddenly wished she had sung the duet with Ryder. Singing with Jake was what she had wanted since she landed eyes on the boy. If Kitty was going to sing at Sectionals, it was better she sung with Ryder than with Jake, right? Yeah.

* * *

**A/N: **'_Chapter 4: Best Buddy_'? Read: '_Chapter 4: Friend Zoned_'. Thank you again for the reviews!


	5. A Simple Crush

**A/N: **Sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I've had a pretty busy schedule with finals, and christmas coming up and whatnot. But here's a new chapter, so enjoy!

* * *

_Chapter 5: A Simple Crush_

Marley entered the halls of McKinley High with a smile on her face. It was Monday morning, and she was in an oddly great mood. She'd spent her entire weekend hanging out with Jake. Since their run-in at The Lima Bean, they'd bonded over coffee (Marley's second cup), and Jake had asked her to come to the movies with him the next day. So yesterday, they'd gone to see the new Johnny Depp film, and had a great time there as well.

The only issues was; Marley didn't know if this meant they were dating or not.

"Hello Vomit Breath," Kitty said once Marley reached her locker, which was unfortunately close to the cheerleader's. "I hope you aren't upset that Ryder and I won the duet over you and Jake. Actually, I'm not too concerned of your feelings. We won, fair and square, simply because we were better than you."

Marley rolled her eyes and opened her locker, searching for her History book. "That's great Kitty. Have fun singing at Sectionals."

"Oh, I will," Kitty's lips formed into a grin. "My hands all over your boyfriend, singing about how we keep hooking up!"

"Ryder isn't my boyfriend," Marley told her, turning to look at her. "Did you think that he was?"

Kitty chuckled. "Of course not. I'm just hinting at the fact that you're totally in love with him."

"Excuse me?" Marley's eyebrows raised. "I am not in love with Ryder. Where'd you get that idea? He's my best friend."

"Sure. A boy who's both funny, and cute - with biceps and old school Justin Bieber hair - who actually cares for you; and you see him as just a friend?" Kitty shook her head. "I've understood that you're pretty stupid Marley, but you can't be _that _stupid."

"I'm not stupid!" Marley protested. "Look, we're... I mean he kissed me backstage during Grease, but that was only to calm my nerves. That's who he is. A perfectly great friend who looks out for me."

Now it was Kitty's turn to roll her eyes. "You're so blind, it's not even funny, Hobo Barbie. Please get your eyes checked as soon as possible; the guy's crushing on you, hard. Everyone knows it."

"You're wrong," Marley responded. "We're friends, and that's it. You've misinterpreted everything."

"Oh, yeah? How do you think I got Goofy to sing with me in the first place? I threatened to tell you how he really feels about you; something I've known since the Grease opening night after party, when he had a little too much to drink and complained about how you'd already left and how he just wanted to be with you all the time. I don't see who in their right mind would have those kind of feelings for you, but he does. Better you accept the truth, Trailer Trash. Ryder's got it bad."

Followed by a simple shrug, and then Kitty was out of sight. But Marley almost failed to notice her disappearance, as she'd moved into some kind of trance. Utterly shocked, she had no idea what to do next.

"Hey!"

She snapped out of it, and to her surprise, Ryder had popped up in front of her. Well, what did she say now?

"Hey... you!" she exclaimed, punching him playfully in the shoulder - maybe a little too hard. "What's up? What's hangin'? You alright, buddy? Tell me what's going on with you! Feels like forever, man."

What was wrong with her?

"Uh... we just hung out this weekend, remember?" Ryder's eyebrows knitted together. "Are you okay, Marls?"

"_Uhm.._."

_No. No I'm not. Kitty just told me you've been crushing on me basically ever since we started hanging out, and I'm not really sure what to do about that because I think I'm kind of seeing Jake now, but I'm not certain, and I ate too much for breakfast and I kind of really need to lay down_, she thought.

"Yeah!" she said.

"Are you sure?" Ryder asked, suspicious.

Marley let out a deep sigh and leaned against the lockers. "No. Look, you know that thing you couldn't tell me about? The thing Kitty threatened you with, so you would sing with her?"

"What about it?" he asked, sudden worry in his voice.

"She told me what it was," Marley continued. "And I don't know what to do about it. You're my best friend, Ryder! And well, I kind of went out with Jake yesterday... This just puts me in a really complicated situation, you know?"

Oh, God. She feared what he would say next. That if this was the case, then they had to stop hanging out. Or that he in fact didn't like her at all, and that Kitty really had misinterpreted the whole thing. She didn't know which would be worse.

"Okay," he simply said, shrugging his shoulders.

Marley frowned. "_Okay_? What do you mean _okay_?"

"I was scared that you'd find out, so I agreed to sing with Kitty. But now that you know, there's nothing I can do about it," Ryder explained. "I've known this whole time that you probably didn't share the same feelings, since you didn't even take the kiss backstage at Grease as a hint. But it's okay. I know you like Jake, and I'm happy that you finally got to go out with him. I want what's best for you, alright? Don't worry about me. It's just a simple crush, and I'll get over it."

Marley was stunned. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely!" Ryder laid a hand on her shoulder. "Do _not_ worry. Now, I really gotta get to class, but I'll see you in Glee rehearsals!"

"Sure, yeah," Marley responded, still in awe, as she watched him leave.

He was so unselfish. It always shocked her how unbelievably good-hearted he was. He wanted what was best for her, not himself. He wasn't going to let this stop them from hanging out. Again popped the question of whether she actually deserved him or not into her mind. Nope, she definitely didn't. But she was grateful to have him in her life, as a friend. Yet, she couldn't help but feel... Well, she didn't know what it was, but it didn't feel right.

* * *

_The other night, you wouldn't believe  
The dream I just had about you and me  
I called you up, but we'd both agree_

_It's for the best you didn't listen,  
It's for the best we get our distance  
It's for the best you didn't listen,  
It's for the best we get our distance  
__  
Oh-oh, oh woah oh,  
__Oh woah, oh-oh_

The members of Glee club applauded each other, as they'd just finished rehearsing their group number for Sectionals. They were doing Some Nights by Fun, and Marley couldn't be happier about it - as it was one of her favorite songs.

"Great job, guys! Take five!" Finn called, and everyone went on a water break.

Jake walked up to Marley as she was gulping water from her bottle, and smiled. "You did great on the wail."

"Thanks," Marley smiled and put her bottle down. "Your solo was great, too."

"Thank you," Jake replied. "So, hey, I had a great time yesterday. Do you wanna maybe hang out again, on Friday?"

"I'd love to!" Marley smiled.

"Great, I'll text you the details?" he asked, and she nodded. "Awesome."

With that, he left to go talk to Sam and Artie. Marley's eyes wandered from the three boys, to Ryder, leaning over to tie his shoe lace. She contemplated whether to walk over to him or not, but then thought: why shouldn't she? They were still friends, Ryder had made sure of it. He had said all those things for a reason. She started heading towards him, but stopped in her tracks when a certain blonde got to him before her.

"Hey, Ryder!" she heard him say, only to be followed by mumbles.

She watched them, as they lead a discussion about what looked to be pretty important. Suddenly, Kitty opened her arms and embraced him in a hug, which he returned. Marley frowned in confusion. They broke apart, only to keep talking. She watched as Ryder grabbed his backpack off the floor and pulled out a pen, handing it to Kitty. She smiled, and said something, which caused him to stretch his arm out.

What the hell was going on?

Marley didn't take her eyes off them, as Kitty wrote something across his forearm. When she was done, Ryder put his arm back down, and when Marley squinted, she saw numbers written on it. Numbers that added up to a phone number! Kitty's phone number!

_Why _was Kitty giving him her phone number?

They smiled at each other, before they parted, and Marley walked straight over to her friend. "Ryder!"

"Marls, what's up?" he asked nonchalantly.

"What just happened between you and Kitty?" she asked, arms crossed over her chest. "What's that on your arm?"

Ryder raised his arm. "This? It's her phone number. She gave it to me so that we can rehears our duet outside of school."

"Wait," Marley looked astonished. "You're still doing the duet with her? Even after she exposed you?"

"She apologized," Ryder explained, with a shrug. "It sounded pretty sincere. And I'm not going to let the other Glee members down, they're counting on us. Besides, I saw you talking to Jake. You going out with him, again?"

"Well, I- yeah," Marley replied, surprised by the sudden change of topics.

"Great! Then we're both set for Friday night, right?" Ryder smiled and patted her shoulder, walking off towards the others, leaving her standing.

Wait, he was rehearsing with Kitty on Friday? Friday, also known as _date night_? What did he mean they were both set? Both set for _date night_? Ryder was going to meet Kitty on _DATE NIGHT_?

And _why_ was Marley more freaked out about this than she probably should be?


End file.
